About 1720 a forward step was taken in the development of English printing by the entrance of William Caslon into the field of type-founding. Born in 1692, we know little of his early life. In 1706 we find him, then twenty-four years old, carrying on a little business in London as an engraver of gun locks and a maker of binders’ tools. Through this last he came in contact with printers, particularly John Walter and William Bowyer, the younger, two of the well-known London printers of that day. His connection with the printing trade, his artistic skill, and his training as an engraver led him to undertake the designing and cutting of type, in which he was encouraged by his printer friends. His type was immediately successful not only in England but on the continent, which had hitherto never looked to England for type. His type was very legible and had a certain air of distinction which made it much superior to any English type made at that time. His roman was regular, graceful, and well proportioned, a worthy successor of the types of Jenson and Aldus. His italic was almost as good as his roman. The influence of Caslon upon English and afterwards upon American type-cutting has been very great. Many of the types in most common use are either Caslon’s letter or some modification of it. This book is printed in one of the Caslon types. For many years no English type-founder could compete with him successfully. The principal types of distinction which were then in the field were three, that of Giambattista Bodoni, that produced by the Didot family, and that made in Holland. Bodoni type was characterized by long ascenders and descenders, over-long serifs, and protracted hair lines. This general style of letter was very common in Italy for a long time both in typography and in manuscript. In the last century the so-called Italian hand, a handwriting showing these characteristics, was for a long time very fashionable, especially among ladies. The Didot type was characterized by sharp contrasts, the thick lines being very thick and the thin lines being razor-edged in their thinness. The Dutch type was rounded and regular with very little contrast between the thick and the thin lines. Caslon’s type was a rather successful effort to retain the good qualities and avoid the defects of all three. Avoiding the exaggeration of Bodoni, it retained, though in modified form, the contrasts of Didot and preserved the regularity of the Dutch without its monotony and lack of contrast. Toward the end of the century poor paper, poor presswork, and poor ink led to an attempt to get clearness and legibility by thickening the type lines. The result was the introduction, about 1800, of a very ugly, fat-faced type which had wide use. Mrs. Caslon, a widow, who was then in charge of the Caslon foundry, attempted to meet these demands by thickening the lines of the Caslon type, producing a modified form which had considerable success for some time.